BEHAVIOURAL NUDGES IN THE ARENA OF MACROECONOMICS IN INDIA: MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN HEALTH AND EDUCATION 1 0

Abstract

Nudge theory in economics is Richard Thaler's Nobel Prize-winning insightful research along with Cass R Sunstein’s Holberg prize. This entrenched the idea in social science. It is an interdisciplinary interphase bordering on social and psychological aspects of economics. Nudge theory does not harm the civil liberty of the people it is meant for, it gives them a choice to change for their own benefit and for the nation as a whole. Nudge in policies has been mostly successful in engineering the desired change.

Macroeconomics policy relies in ensuring the development and growth of the nation as a whole and has been silently relying on the Nudge or the soft push to align people with what the policy desires to achieve, the intended goals. Nudge theory has been used for generations, but it took Thaler in 2008 to look into it from the economics point of view and explain and bring it into the policy discussion table in the theoretical studies. This paper explores the Nudge theory used in the Indian economy in the political arena through the various policies rolled out. The Research Design here is to include India as the study area is based on secondary sources and is analyzed through charts and other statistical tools. This research paper will guide those who are interested in the functioning of Nudge in policy and planning in Indian economics.